Top 10 pitfalls for anyone looking to adopt DevOps

With everyone seeming to now do DevOps in some form, we
thought it useful to share our top ten pitfalls we see at EnfuseGroup when it
comes to adopting DevOps at the enterprise level.

1. Adopting
DevOps because everyone’s doing it

We see this one more than we care to
admit! Be clear on what you want to achieve, what DevOps means and what
‘flavour’ is right for you. It isn’t always right for everyone.

2. Treating
DevOps as a technology thing

No, no and no. DevOps is about people, process
and technology. If anything, the people/culture elements are the most critical
challenges.

3. Positioning
DevOps as a single team’s responsibility

DevOps is everyone’s
responsibility. That is the point of DevOps. A DevOps team (or project) can
help you kick start your adoption of DevOps through coaching and support, but
should not be a bottleneck or another silo.

4. Thinking
DevOps is simply about combining Dev and Ops team

If only it were this
simple. Combining teams helps but just moving the deck chairs is not enough.
For instance, combining teams might not reduce or simplify your number of
touchpoints/handovers, as these can happen within a big team just as easily as
they previously occurred between teams.

5. Trying to
do DevOps big bang style

It’s 2017 and it’s all about iterating. You
can’t just create a DevOps environment overnight. Start slowly and learn what
works. Target your high return value streams/ products.

6. Ignore
security and Audit teams

Security and audit needs can pose challenges for
DevOps ways of working. For this reason it is very tempting to simply ignore it
and hope it goes away. After all, that’s kind of what happens in that DevOps
book, The Phoenix Project, right? However, in our experience you are best to
involve Security and Audit teams early on. It’s painful but will get you the
best results in the end.

7. Doing it
on a shoestring

Let’s be honest, you rarely get anything good for cheap.
To get to the benefits of DevOps you will need to invest. This should see
savings in the longer term, but don’t assume the savings will come immediately
and provide the funding (again, we see this mistake a lot). Even if the
benefits come quickly, you can rarely get hold of the savings to spend on your
DevOps investment.

8. Reverting
to type when it doesn’t go right

When things go wrong, we typically
revert back to what was working. When your DevOps push hits a bump, try to stay
the course and keep to your convictions. Make sure you have senior buy.

9. Thinking
DevOps is a silver bullet

DevOps benefits are real and for many
organisations it is an obvious move to adopt DevOps at an enterprise scale.
However, it’s not going to solve all your problems and will even create new
ones. Go into DevOps with your eyes open. Don’t set expectations on the DevOps
hype – go to real companies who are doing this and understand the real pros and
cons.

10. Measure DevOps success with traditional IT
metrics

This is likely to tell to do the wrong thing. Traditional metrics
in IT are typically inward facing. They rarely get at business value, or give a
real sense of quality or velocity. Cost saving metrics are quite popular with
IT, and these can deter investment in the necessary areas (for example,
investment in DevOps experts to supplement your teams). Carefully think through
what metrics you really need to drive the right outcomes like increased
releases, productivity, speed to fix etc.